The world waited with bated breath when Roger Federer took the grass court for the first time in 352 days, being up against his old friend Tommy Haas. After a 10 week long absence from the tour, Federer returned to Stuttgart fairly rejuvenated and raring to conquer his favourite surface, but reality struck him when Tommy Haas romped to a 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 win against Federer.
Federer’s chosen hiatus from the game was supposed to make him ready for the 2nd half of the season, but what it has essentially done is that it has made him devoid of some much needed much practice, something that was very evident from his rustiness in the first set.
Federer still managed to take the first set, but it was evident from his ground strokes that the second set would be a tight affair. Haas took the second set in a tough tie break and then was able to wrap up the match in a fairly one sided decider.
Haas would take great heart from this win and Federer would love the fact that the loss cam this early to him, as he would now be able to work on his game a little more to sort out his grass court game.
This is how Twitter reacted to Federer’s loss:
More reactions on the next page:
https://twitter.com/Tennis18MAD/status/875034244996837379
